Technicians, welders, assemblers, subcontractors and management came out Wednesday to see off the caravan of hydrovac excavators manufactured at Premier Oilfield Equipment Co. -- located in the Fort Morgan Industrial Park.

It was one in a series of milestones for the company, as the excavators departed for the 2013 Pumper and Cleaner Environmental Expo International in Indianapolis, Ind., North America's largest trade show for equipment like hydrovacs, excavators, municipal equipment and other environmental solutions, said CEO Ian Dickinson.

What is unique is Premier's strategy to integrate its "advantaged hydrovac unit" with the CAT CT660 chassis in partnership with Caterpillar Inc. and its dealers, Dickinson said.

Two excavators on the Caterpillar chassis led the caravan, followed by a stripped down excavator and a separate tank so that those attending the expo could identify the various parts of the equipment, said Chief Technical Officer Gary Harms.

All of the equipment will be on display at the expo next week, which runs Monday through Thursday.

Premier Oilfield started building the excavators in July, and has since increased production to building four trucks per month. Premier's hydro excavator has a simple design and is the most efficient machine of its type on the market, Harms said. Premier Oilfield has four patents on the technology, with two more patents pending.

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Harms said he had started working with a Caterpillar representative in January of 2011 when the company introduced its new over-the-road chassis to the market. A series of discussions led to optimizing the chassis for Premier's excavator.

Hydrovac excavation uses heated water to break up earth, which is simultaneously removed by a powerful vacuum. It is a fast, safe and effective alternative to traditional methods and is significantly more efficient than hand digging, Harms said. These hydro excavators use water to dig out ground in a non-destructive manner, which makes them more versatile than backhoes.

For example, the excavator can dig out around pipelines that no one would want backhoes around, Harms said. They can also be used for jobs like oilfield cleanup.

Dickinson said Premier Oilfield plans to increase productivity to six excavators per month by mid-2013, which will mean adding additional employees to the team.

"We're going to continue to grow," Harms said, adding that he expected to hire 15 new employees in the immediate future and additional new employees as orders for these hydrovacs grow.

The partnership with Caterpillar means access to its dealer network, which offers a unique sales and service platform for the hydrovac and chassis combination, Dickinson said.

Even one excavator sold each month at each Caterpillar dealer would be a substantial market, Harms said, before even entering the Canadian market, which is sizeable for the hydrovac equipment due to frozen tundra that is more easily excavated using hydrovac technology.

Premier Oilfield Equipment Co. came together when Altira Group, LLC. invested in the company in March of last year, Dickinson said. Altira purchased three standalone businesses and combined them into one corporation.

Since that time, Premier Oilfield's annual gross revenue has grown from $8 million to $40 million, and the company projects $53 million in 2013, he said. Much of that growth was due to the hydrovac excavator.

Harms said he believes he has the best hydrovac machine in the world.

Premier Oilfield employs 150 people in 80,000 square feet of manufacturing area on 26 acres in Fort Morgan, Dickinson said.

Those employees work to construct oilfield production tanks and specialty tanks and trailers, in addition to the hydrovac line.

Premier Oilfield uses the most advanced equipment available to build the best tanks and trailers in the industry. Customers have several models of tanks and trailers to choose from or can customize these products to fit their needs.

The Pumper and Cleaner expo shows off the latest products and technologies in the environmental service industry. The largest annual trade fair for environmental service professionals, it attracts about 12,000 environmental service professionals from 46 nations.

Premier Oilfield Equipment Co. is a provider of both commodity and specialized products to the upstream oil and gas segment. Premier uses its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to create its products, which include hydro-excavation trucks, specialty tanks and trailers, production tanks and other related oilfield equipment.

Headquartered in Fort Morgan, the company's location -- in the middle of Colorado's Niobrara shale play, and within easy access of the Bakken shale play in North Dakota -- allows Premier to meet the growing demand in these geographies and beyond.